


A Pair of Bi-bies.

by corbella



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: (sort of), Bisexual Tenzin, Coming Out, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Tenzin is a good dad, because I said so, bisexual korra, look no child of aangs is straight on my watch, very minor angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:49:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25521631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corbella/pseuds/corbella
Summary: Korra comes out to Tenzin. It goes even better than she expected.
Relationships: Korra & Tenzin (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 86





	A Pair of Bi-bies.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Tenzin, he’s my dad and I’d die for him, and there’s a shortage of fics of him just being a good parent, I think. I am here to fix that. You’re welcome.
> 
> I was entertaining myself with thoughts of how Korra might’ve come out to everyone, and at one point when I got to Tenzin _vividly_ heard him say a line in my head, and I had to write this. Besides, coming out fics are just cute, okay?
> 
> this is short but sweet. enjoy <3
> 
> PS i’m sorry i couldn’t come up with a title so it’s a stupid pun
> 
> edit: this was written and posted at like 2am lmao sorry for any mistakes and the uh. quality at times

Korra took a deep breath, psyching herself up. She’d been pacing in front of Tenzin’s study for what felt like an hour, trying to work up the courage to go in there, tell him that _she was bi, damnit, and there was nothing he could do about it_ , and then live happily ever after.

Sadly, it wasn’t that easy. The problem was that Korra _knew_ it would be fine. Tenzin would probably give her a warm smile and a hug, tell her he was proud of her, and that would be it, but she was still worried. She just couldn’t help it. 

“Alright, me,” she whispered fiercely, “everything’s gonna be fine, Tenzin is not the kind of person to disapprove of this or whatever, he’s not gonna say or do anything. Nothing is going to be different after this except he’ll know so it’ll be better, actually—“

The door to Tenzin’s study opened suddenly, and Korra jumped back with a yelp, heart pounding. The man himself stood there, clearly exasperated, and clearly tired.

 _Maybe this isn’t the best time_ , Korra thought anxiously, but before she could say anything, Tenzin spoke.

“Korra,” he said, “I’ve been listening to you pace and talk to yourself for the past ten minutes. If you need to talk to me, please just do it.” He softened, stepping back out of the doorway to make room for her. “You know you can tell me anything.”

Stiffly, Korra nodded and made her way into his study, beelining for the chair to avoid her legs giving out on her. He followed much more calmly, sitting across from her on the other side of his desk, and she refused to meet his eyes, feeling herself start to sweat, for fucks sake.

Tenzin hummed, and picked up a fountain pen, focusing his gaze on the papers in front of him. “It’s alright, take your time.”

After a few minutes, Korra let herself relax, almost lulled by the quiet shuffle of papers and occasional scritch of Tenzin’s pen. She glanced around the room before settling her gaze on him. “Um,” she squeaked, wincing as he paused and looked up, meeting her gaze. “What are you working on..?”

“Oh,” he scoffed, “just some things about the Air Nation.” He sighed. “The other three seem to have trouble comprehending that we do things differently to them.”

“Sounds important,” she said weakly, a small, but steadily growing cowardly part of her hoping he would kick her out. “Maybe I should just go.”

“Actually,” Tenzin said, pointedly putting down his pen, “it can wait.”

Korra tried for a smile, nodding, but clearly it didn’t do the trick, as he sighed and folded his hands on his desk, expression turning worried.

“Is everything alright, Korra?”

She nodded a bit frantically. “Yes! Everything’s great, actually! It’s just, uh, well, I…” she looked down. “I wanted to tell you something, and it’s not bad! It’s just...important to me that you know.” She glanced up, and Tenzin gave her a soft smile.

“Okay. Well, I’m all ears.”

Korra took a breath, and sat on her hands to stop them from shaking. Alright, now or never, she could do this. “I, um…” she looked down. “I’m...I’m bi. As in, I like girls and guys.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I think I kinda lean towards girls, though.”

After a moment of silence, she risked a glance up, but she clearly hadn’t needed to be worried, because Tenzin was _beaming_ at her, a strange emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place. Relief crashed over her like a wave, and she stubbornly fought back tears that threatened to pool in her eyes. 

“That’s wonderful, Korra,” he said, and she could tell that he was being completely honest. “Thank you for trusting me. I know that was hard.” He stood up, and she followed suit, almost embarrassed at how she basically collapsed into his arms, holding on as if for dear life.

Tenzin gave her a squeeze, and gently patted her on the back. “I love you, you know that, right? Nothing as silly as that could ever stop me from caring about you.”

Korra nodded, mortified as her breathing turned shaky and uneven. She hid her face in his chest, and he gave a little chuckle, holding her tighter.

“You know,” he said thoughtfully, “my father told us all one day, when we were young, that he identified as _pansexual,_ meaning he loved everybody regardless of their gender.” Tenzin’s voice turned fond. “He reminded us all the time that love was love, and it didn’t matter who you loved as long as you were happy. The air nomads were staunch believers of that, and that’s something I’ve made sure every new airbender knows.”

Korra nodded. That made sense—the air nomads were a very free people. They wouldn’t care about something as trivial as that. 

After a bit, she pulled away and looked up at Tenzin, not bothering to hide her watery eyes, and he smiled at her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you,” she croaked, and he gave her a gentle squeeze before dropping his arm.

“Of course. Besides, I’d be a massive hypocrite if I told you that liking people of the same gender wasn’t allowed.”

Korra blinked, and squinted at him. “Wait a minute, What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tenzin rubbed the back of his head. “Well, before I was married, of course, I, um, well.” He flushed, not meeting her eyes. “I...didn’t only look at women.”

Korra gasped, launching herself forward and grabbing his shoulders. “WHAT? You’re bi? Are you kidding me? I thought you were straight!”

He looked disgruntled. “Well I hate to break it to you, Korra, but your ‘gaydar’—“ he made quotation marks with his hands— “isn’t always correct.”

She laughed. “Clearly not! Oh my god, this is awesome!” She gasped again, an amazing idea coming to her. “Oh shit, you _have_ to come to this year’s pride parade in Republic City with me!”

Tenzin grimaced. “I’m...not so sure about that. Big events aren’t always my forte.”

Groaning, Korra grabbed his arm and shook it up and down. “C’mon, it’ll be so much fun! OH! I can get you a flag! And _buttons_!” She grinned. “You’re gonna need so many buttons. You can put them on your cape!”

He frowned. “I don’t need _buttons—_ “

She pouted, giving him the best puppy eyes she could muster. “Please? Please please please?”

Tenzin stared at her for several long seconds, looking as though he regretted his life choices, before sighing. “Yes, alright, I’ll come.”

“Wooo!” Korra cheered, throwing her arms up and dancing around the room. Tenzin shook his head at her fondly, and made an _oof_ sound when she hugged him again.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and he smiled, wrapping his arms around her.

“Of course.”


End file.
